The involved practices of inspecting and refueling a nuclear reactor are both time consuming and complex. In addition to the ultimate goal of replenishing exhausted fuel assemblies, literally hundreds of ancillary tasks must be performed as well. The claimed invention relates to one of these tasks in particular.
In order to gain access to the reactor internals, various reactor components must be removed and stored until the requisite job is completed. In particular, current practice calls for an indexing fixture to be stored separately from a previously withdrawn plenum assembly. This step necessitates the utilization of large amounts of expensive floor space solely for storage purposes when, in fact, the floor space may be employed for more productive purposes or be eliminated entirely. In addition, protracted handling times are experienced in transporting the remotely stored indexing fixture to and from the reactor area. This state of affairs may be easily rectified by simply stacking the indexing fixture temporarily upon the removed plenum assembly. The plenum assembly is normally stored on a suitable internals storage stand adjacent to the reactor vessel during reactor maintenance and fuel replenishment periods.
Unfortunately, the support hardware presently available cannot be utilized in conjunction with the indexing fixture. Current designs call for manually moved and manually locked support devices which are ill-suited for remote operation. Furthermore, these designs are easily broken if inadvertently left in an improper position when a reverse load is applied. As a consequence, the indexing fixture cannot be stacked upon the plenum assembly but, instead, must be stored in some remote location.
Clearly, a more expeditious apparatus for supporting the indexing fixture is desirable.